


Socializing

by Writteninblue



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Awkwardness, Fun, Gen, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-19
Updated: 2013-07-19
Packaged: 2017-12-20 17:48:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/890089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writteninblue/pseuds/Writteninblue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Reiner's sick, so what's Bertholdt going to do now?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Socializing

**Author's Note:**

> Alright so I kinda have this idea Bertholdt having possible never really talked to anyone else but Reiner and Annie, is kind of socially awkward around anyone else. It's really nothing more then a fun idea I had. Enjoy!

"How can you get sick!?" Bertholdt said in shock, as he sat across from Reiner in the infirmary

"We're still humans. Humans get sick." Reiner said ending his sentence with a sneeze.

"But…You can still train and everything right?"

"Well," Reiner hesitated, "The doctor told me to stay here and rest. They don't want to me overwork and have it get worse."

"H-how long will be out?" Bertholdt stuttered.

Reiner sneezed, "The doctor said a few days."

"Well, I'll stay here and take care of you!"

"Commander Shadis will get suspicious if you stay here." Reiner said, "You need to continue with training."

Bertholdt rubbed the back of his head and looked sheepishly. "But…Without you there…"

"You'll be…" Reiner sneezed again. "You'll be fine. You still have Annie and the others."

"The…others?"

"Connie, Sasha, Marco…the others."

"So…y-you want to me to socialize with…everyone else?"

"Why are you scared about this?"

"Well I…"

"They're all nice guys." Reiner said, sneezing again, "Give them a chance."

"Cadet Fubar." The doctor said as he opened the door to the room, "I'm afraid it's almost your curfew you must return to your bunk."

Bertholdt turned to Reiner, to which Reiner smiled, "It'll be fine."

Bertholdt got up and looked over his shoulder, "Just please get better soon…" He said as he left. 

Walking back to the bunk was lonely, it felt like it took so long for him to get back. Once he arrive, he saw he was the last one in. Everyone around him was talking to one another. Bertholdt had no desire to speak to any one. He changed his clothes and climbed up on the ladder to his bunk. He laid there for a moment, his eyes fixated on the ceiling. The chatter around him started to die down after what was probably an hour. 

"A few days…" He said to himself as he nodded off to sleep. 

 

 

 

Bertholdt walked outside in the morning. He was on his way to morning drills when he spotted the one person he wanted to see.

"Annie!" He called.

Annie looked over her shoulder, and only began to walk faster.

"Annie please wait up!" Bertholdt called out to her again. Annie walked faster. Bertholdt sighed, "You know my legs are longer, and walking faster is pretty useless."

Annie stopped, and turned on her heels. She reached up and grabbed Bertholdt's ear. She yanked him down and started to drag him away, behind one of the bunks. All the way there Bertholdt winced in pain, calling her name asking her to let go. She was small, but very strong.

"What do you want!" She hissed. "Where's Reiner?"

"Reiner got sick…" Bertholdt said rubbing his ear. "And…"

"You can't wander around me." She said, turning her back.

"But…It…it feels..weird not having you guys around. And I'm not sure what to do."

Annie sighed, "I know, but it is best to keep to yourself and avoid suspicion."

"Reiner says I should start talking to the others."

Annie snapped her head back, "Don't be like that fool." She said as she walked away. 

Bertholdt folded his arms and breathed deeply. 

 

 

 

The morning drills came and went with no problems. But once the afternoon arrived he remembered, they had it off. Bertholdt hated the thought. Normally he would just sit around with Reiner, play chess or watch him talk with the other trainees. But now what. He looked around him, many of them were practicing in hand to hand combat, others were heading off into town. Bertholdt decided he just needed a quite place to sit down. He figured the library would be the best. He walked in, and turned into an aisle and grabbed one of the first books he saw. Frankly he didn't care what it was about, he just needed something to get him by this afternoon.

Out of the corner of his eye he spotted a petite blonde girl, reaching up at a nearby book case. It was Christa, she seemed to be trying to grab a book on the top shelf.

"Come on…" She said, almost squeaking out of strain. "A little higher…" she said getting on her toes.

Bertholdt looked around, I guess…He thought. He walked over to her and pulled down the book. "Is this what you were looking for?"

Christa turned around "Oh Bertholdt!" She said, with a warm smile. "Thank you so much!" She looked around him, "Reiner's not here with you?"

"Uh…" Bertholdt hesitated. "Well, he got sick."

"Oh no!" Christa gasped. "I hope he gets better soon. Please wish him well for me." She smiled as she walked away. 

Bertholdt closed his eyes, smiled and waved her off. She wasn't so bad. Then again this was Christa, one of the nicest girls amongst the trainees. He knew Reiner had taken a liking to her. After all, she was kinda cute…

Bertholdt opened his eyes only to be greeted with a glare from Ymir. Seeing her in front of him caused him to let out a small yell, and recoil back.

"What are you doing?!" She snapped.

"I…I….was just helping Christa." He managed to stutter out. 

"So you're boyfriend is not around today, therefore you must be the one all over her?"

"I wasn't….what do you mean boyfriend?"

"Ymir! They heard Christa say. They looked around , and saw Christa standing beside them with an angry look on her face. "Can you please stop being so overprotected! He was just helping me out!"

Ymir sighed, as she watched Christa walk away, "Whatever you and your boyfriend are up too…Well lets just say I don't trust you…" She said as she walked away.

"What no no no we're not up to…and he's not my boyfriend!" 

"Hmm." Was all Ymir responded with. 

Bertholdt could feel the negativity coming off from Ymir, it wasn't very comfortable. He grabbed his book and walked out. 

 

 

 

Later that evening, Reiner was still in the infirmary when the doctor came in. "Cadet Braun, you have a visitor."

Reiner looked over to see Bertholdt standing in the doorway. "Bertl!" Reiner said as he narrowed his eyes.

"I just came to check up on you." Bertholdt said, as he sat down, "How are you feeling?"

"Worse." Reiner said. "What about you?"

"Well," He began, "Annie said I'm not allowed to talk to her. She kinda grabbed me by the ear and yelled at me."

"You're acting like this is new." Reiner said flatly.

"Didn't say it was new." Bertholdt quickly said, "Later on I ran into Christa and Ymir."

Reiner perked up, "How's Christa?" He said.

"Umm fine?" Bertholdt said, "She says she hopes you get better soon."

Reiner chuckled to himself. "That girl is too cute."

"Ymir scary though." Bertholdt said rubbing the back of his head. "Reiner..are you...my boyfriend?

"Am I your what?"

"Nothing." He said as he shrank back into his chair. 

"Stop acting all defeated." Reiner said. "Now..get out of here, please."

Bertholdt sighed as he walked out. 

 

 

 

Dinner was rather uncomfortable too, it didn't help that he wasn't hungry. His stew sat there untouched as he thumbed through his book more. At least he made it through the first day. He let out a small sigh.

"Excuse me?" A voice came. Bertholdt peered over the book to see a girl standing in front of him. Her long brown hair was tied up on top of her head. Her hands were clasped together as her eyes darted from Bertholdt, down to his bowl, her mouth looked to be salivating at the thought. "Will you be eating that?"

'Uhh…no?" Bertholdt said, pushing the bowl to her.

"Thank ya!" The girl said with a smile, " I mean…Thank you very much!" 

She didn't even take it and go back to her table, instead she sat down in front of him and started eating very loudly. 

I know this girl.. He thought. Everyone calls her Potato Girl but she has a name. What is it…Sarah, Silvia, Tasha…."Sasha!" 

"Did you call my name?" Sasha asked, her mouth full of food.

"Oh..I said that out loud?" Sasha nodded, "Umm, sorry." He quietly said. 

"And your Bertholdt right?" Sasha asked. To which he nodded. Sasha laughed, "It's funny we're in the same squad and yet, we have never spoken, Bertl."

"Please don't call me that." Bertholdt said, looking sheepishly down. he secretly hated Reiner's nickname for him. And the last thing he wanted was for everyone to call him that.

"You are usually around Reiner, is that correct?"

"Yes, he is my friend. But he's sick."

Sasha smiled and patted his arm, "Well if you see him, tell him I hope he feels better." Her smile quickly turned into a frown, as she kept her hand on his arm. 

Please stop touching me. Was all Bertholdt could think. 

Sasha then pressed her hand to his forehead. "You feel like you are burning up too." She said, "Perhaps you are coming down with something as well."

Bertholdt quickly panicked. "I gotta go, nothing is wrong, maybe you're hot, I mean fever hot,…" He stood up, almost tripping over his chair as he walked out before he said anything else. 

 

 

 

Back at the bunks, Bertholdt decided it would be best if he kept to himself. Once again he was engrossed in his book. Why he kept on reading it was beyond him. He heard steps climbing up the ladder, as he placed the book on his chest. The short boy, Connie that was his name, popped up.

"Hey Bertl hows it going?"

"Umm…Fine?" Bertholdt answered, "And please, just call me Bertholdt."

"Nah thats too hard to say."

"Oh…" His eyes darted, "I'm sorry?"

"So heard you were getting a little close to Sasha tonight?" Connie said, wiggling his eyebrows up and down.

"I'm sorry?" He repeated

"I saw her touching you, and heard you calling her hot." Connie said as he sat closer. 

"Please get away."  Bertholdt said quietly as he scooted away from Connie

"Come on. You gave her your food."

"She asked for it."

"Admit it. You like her!"

"I don't, she's not the oneI like!" The words flew out of his mouth before he had a chance to think. He quickly covered his mouth.

Connie's eyes grew with excitement, "So you do have a crush on a girl!"

"I…no!" Bertholdt said, "Please leave!"

"You're getting all red and sweaty!"

"Thats how I always am."

"I bet it's Annie!"

"Please stop talking…"

"It is Annie!"

A mashup of words came out of his mouth. Truth be told, even Bertholdt didn't know what he was saying. The only coherent thing he ended up saying was "I'm going to bed."

Connie pouted, "Well fine then. But hey don't worry, I'll keep it a secret." He said with a smirk across his face.

How on earth can Reiner put up with that kid…He thought as he turned over and fell asleep. 

 

 

 

 

The next day, Bertholdt had just finished with running laps. He placed his hands on his knees, as he rested. 

"Cadet Fubar!" Shadis called.

"Y-Yes sir!" Bertholdt said, as he stood at attention. 

"You're on dining hall cleaning duty tonight with Cadet Boldt and Cadet Kristein. Since Cadet Braun is sick, you three need to work extra hard."

"Yes sir." Bertholdt answered. As Shadis walked away, he relaxed. Jean and Marco…Marco was at least a nice guy, Jean on the other hand…He hung his head and sighed. 

The day came and went, and before he knew it, Bertholdt was standing in the dining hall with Marco and Jean by his side. 

Jean folded his arms, "This is bullshit." He said

"Come on Jean," Marco said, as he smiled, "It's not that bad"

"Yeah well you and bean pole here can go have fun with it."

Bertholdt looked down to Marco, "Umm…Bean Pole?"

Marco patted Bertholdt on the shoulder, "Don't mind Jean. He always seems to get like this after he sees Mikasa and Eren together."

"Marco!" Jean barked.

The three of them cleaned in silence. Jean mostly doing a halfass job, but Marco seemed to be really helping out and making up for Jean. It wasn't long before they had finished. But still something plagued Bertholdt's mind about what Jean said before. 

"Hey Jean?" He asked

"No."

"I have a question."

"Stop talking to me."

"What did you mean by the uh…the bean pole comment?"

"You're seriously asking that?" Jean said as he raised an eye brow. Jean let out a huge laugh.

"Come on Jean." Marco said, "He was just saying you're tall and lanky."

"I'm not that tall am I?"

"You're the tallest one of the trainees."

"I'm only 192 centimeters."

"Yeah thats pretty tall." Jean said.

Marco laughed, "You could be a titan with your height."

Bertholdt's eyes widen. "I'm not a titan what are you talking about who's a titan why would you say that thats stupid i really have no idea what your talking about!" He said all in one breath and very fast. The two boys looked at him and blinked, unclear of what he had said. Bertholdt could feel his stomach drop.

"What did you say?" Jean asked.

"Nothing I said nothing."

"You said it so fast I couldn't understand." 

"Thats fine, I didn't say anything." Bertholdt's eyes darted. "I'm leaving." He said as he turned on his heels and walked out. 

 

He walked fast out of the door. This was why he hated talking to people. He grasped the bridge of his nose as he walked along. Thankful that Marco and Jean didn't hear what he had said. 

 

 

Bertholdt made his way back to the dorm, his hands in his pockets, and looking toward the ground. It had already been two days without Reiner. It was starting to get really lonely without him. 

"Bertholdt!" A voice called. 

He turned his head around to see Eren was running toward him with Mikasa and Armin behind. Bertholdt sped up his walking. Nope! He thought to himself.

"Bertholdt wait up." Eren called again

Please go away. Bertholdt thought as he scrunched his face in frustration. 

"Eren let it go." He heard Mikasa say.

"But I need to ask him and Reiner something."

"Reiner's in the infirmary if you want to talk to him." Bertholdt said, only regretting it as soon as it left his mouth. 

"Whats wrong?" Armin asked. 

'He's…He's sick." Bertholdt said. Just go away, he thought.

"That does explain why he hasn't been around." Eren thought out loud. "Hey, are you ok?"

"Fine…" He said. 

There was a moment of silence between them. "Ok...we'll see you around." He heard Eren say.

"Tell Reiner we hope he feels better." He heard Armin say. 

Bertholdt turned around, hoping to see the three of them gone. Instead, he saw Mikasa standing there. She really did scare him. She did currently top everyone in the 104th squad, Reiner and himself included. Mikasa looked at him up and down.

"S-something the matter?" He stuttered out.

"Oi, Mikasa!" Eren called.

She didn't say anything, just turned and followed Eren. 

Bertholdt let out a deep breath as he heard all three of them walk away. He really needed to see Reiner. Despite the fact that Bertholdt knew Reiner did not want to see him, he had enough of everyone else today.

 

 

"Cadet Braun." The doctor called, "Visitor."

Bertholdt walked into Reiner's room. Reiner sat straight up, "Out!"

"But…"

"No!"

"Reiner!" Bertholdt snapped. 

Reiner laid down again, and took a deep sigh, "Couldn't last two days without me."

"I just…don't know how to interact well with everyone."

Reiner was quite for a moment. Then flung the covers off of him and got up, "Fine I'll go back."

Bertholdt sat there in utter shock. "Y-You're all better?"

"Actually I got better the morning after I was admitted." Reiner shrugged. "Guess my body trying to heal a sickness works the same way when regenerating a limb. But just wanted to get you out there and start talking to everyone."

Bertholdt was speechless. He stood there with his mouth hung open. He punched Reiner in the arm and stormed out.

"Bertl!" Reiner called, "Oh come on it wasn't as bad as it could have been."

Bertholdt turned on his heels. "Yes it was…and stop calling me that."

 

 


End file.
